Rec. zool. Surv. India: 105 (Part 1-2) : 83-95, 2005 CHECKLIST OF TERRESTRIAL GASTROPODS OF TAMIL NADU, INDIA RAJENDRA, G. MAVINKURVE, SANDHYA, P., P. SHANBHAG AND N. A. MADHYASTHA* Malacology Centre, Poornaprajna College, Udupi-576 101, Karnataka, India E-mail:
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[email protected] INTRODUCTION Molluscs fonn an important constituent of leaf litter and soil biota. They are an ideal group for monitoring site specific environmental impact assessment studies because of their limited migration patterns. Majority of them remain undiscovered or under described, partly because of insufficient exploration and partly because of their often minute sizes (Emberton, 1995). Unfortunately, for the last 75 years or so, in South India, no attention has been paid for this important group with exceptions of some localized reviews and publications [(Tonapi and Mulhekar, 1963; Tonapi 1971; Subba Rao and Mitra, 1979, 1986; Madhyastha et ai., 2003, 2005; Mavinkurve et ai., 2004a, (in press); Sandhya et ai., (submitted)]. The works of Ramanan (1900) and Sathyamurthi (1960) are the preliminary source for those interested in the terrestrial molluscs of Tamil Nadu. This work is in continuation of the checklist for the land snails of the southern states that is being fonnulated (Mavinkurve et al., 2004b). STUDY AREA Situated on the southeastern side of the Indian peninsula, the state of Tamil Nadu has an area of 130,058 sq Ian. The landmass of the state can be divided into two natural divisions: (i) The eastern coastal plain (ii) The hilly region along the north and the west. Along the whole length of the western part, at a distance from the sea varying from 80 to 160 km runs the Western Ghats range, a steep and rugged mass averaging 1220 metres above the sea level.